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The Power of Networking

In light of the latest big-name corporate merger, Fred’s moving on to Big Blue and taking his mad UX skillz with him. Many, many congratulations all round!

His parting words to co-workers are along the lines of what I’ve heard since I started working: network, network, network. That’s always been a crucial component of job hunting, and it seems to be even more so now.

I got my current job because of networking, something I couldn’t bear to do before because 1) I’d always been too anti-social and 2) because there was nothing I could ever reciprocate with.

Networking is sort of like the business equivalent of karma: what goes around, comes around. And of course one of the best places to see that in action is within a professional organization. For tech writers, one of those pro-orgs is the STC. For me, that org has always been a mixed bag. On the one hand, I’m aware of the “you get out what you put in” line. Fred’s obviously put a lot into his STC membership, and now he’s reaping the benefits. But I’m also aware that not all chapters are created equal. My previous experience with the Lone Star chapter was one I should be very happy never to repeat, and combined with a few other membership issues, it’s soured me on the organization as a whole. But admittedly, I’ve never been much of a community girl, and so group involvement tends to get really tedious really quick.

Obviously, Fred’s STC experience has been much better than mine, and I wonder in what parts that is due to personal involvement and positive (i.e., dynamic) chapter environment. Now that I’m here in Florida, I might check out the Palm Beaches chapter and see if things turn out differently.